FarmerTy Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Wanted to start a thread on maricultures, the selection of them, the identification of them, the art of coloring them up, and before and after pics of them. I thought it would be a nice discussion thread to share what we have individually learned about them. I am keenly interested in understanding potentially color changes that occur... for instance, your purples seen on a mariculture will most likely end up blue... or your yellows will turn green... etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Here's a website I use often for help with identification. http://www.baliaquarium.net I like this one because you actually get to compare your non-colored up colony with the pictures of theirs in the mariculture area... the coloration is close to the same as well as growth form. It's literally what the coral would look like if someone hadn't just plucked it from the facility and shipped it here. Once they get into our tanks, the growth forms can change and for sure the coloration so it's hard to cross identify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvrEnuf Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Oh there is sceince behind this stuff? I thought this was just a version of aquarium roulette. I just got my first piece and haven't taken a pic yet. You'll have to wait for the lights to come on. Unless...the piece in the center of Nikos tank (maybe a hair left of center) is a Mariculture...I don't know. Either way, it is currently still pretty bleached! So, I am all about this "coloring up" part of the conversation! Let's hear it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Here's what I am having success with so far: Blue mille Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Oh there is sceince behind this stuff? I thought this was just a version of aquarium roulette. I just got my first piece and haven't taken a pic yet. You'll have to wait for the lights to come on. Unless...the piece in the center of Nikos tank (maybe a hair left of center) is a Mariculture...I don't know. Either way, it is currently still pretty bleached! So, I am all about this "coloring up" part of the conversation! Let's hear it! Maybe more of a soft science. [emoji39] Here's my process with new maris: 1) Float bags for 30 mins-1hr for temp acclimation 2) Test water in bag for salinity and alk (you wouldn't believe some of the levels I've read) 3) the levels above would determine how much I feel the need to acclimate to my water. Very close in parameters and I literally dip and chunk it in the tank... far apart and I use a series of tubs with various percentages of mixed water to transition the mari. 4) dip in bayer insecticide for 5-10 mins (only species I avoid doing this with is surhasoni... they are the only ones I've observed that are sensitive to it). I've been experimenting with potassium dipping... I'll report back on that one. 5) place onto sandbed with medium flow and about 250-300 par of light 6) after 2 weeks of acclimation, I put it on the rocks at 400-600 par and let it do its thing Coloring up usually takes anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months. I just put it at a spot and don't move it. Sam likes to frag a couple pieces and distributes them around the tank to see ideal conditions for best coloration. I may start doing that. He also feels like throwing them immediately into the fire (higher par) helps keep coloration. I'll experiment with that too but I trust his ample experience with maris. I should say that the common procedure is to remove the coral from the plug it came on and reglue to another frag plug. The reason for this is potential introduction of nuisance algae and also to minimize pests. If you only put in living flesh from the SPS and nothing else, you could avoid any chances of the dreaded AEFW! Again, something I might employ down the line but I find the large plugs useful for mounting purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Here are my most recent 3. Can't wait to track their progress in growth and color! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 The left one looks awesome! I should have snapped a piece when you weren't lookong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAM Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I like this topic, good job Ty. We can all add to this as we experiement more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 I like this topic, good job Ty. We can all add to this as we experiement more. I'm ready for you to drop some knowledge Obi-Sam Kenobe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Or is he darth Sam.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet'spride70 Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Mine start showing abit of pink, I ll update it next week to see color changed.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Looks like the one I picked up Vu. I'll race you to who colors it up first! [emoji39] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet'spride70 Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 u have better camera than my cell phone, that's un fair but I still do it anyway... C u next sat, here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Haha, I only have a cell phone too but I'm working on fixing that situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Are those mariculture colonies typically less expensive than you standard "name brand" acros? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAM Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Are those mariculture colonies typically less expensive than you standard "name brand" acros?Yep most definitely...usually around 40 to 120 a colony depending on who you get it from and the guarantee and stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Now you're speaking my language Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 I like the maris due to the high volume of coral to price ratio. I still buy "designer" corals because lineage is important and you don't ever know what you're truly getting with mariculture so it can be hit or miss. My method for collecting acros in this new tank is a nice mix of "designer corals" (oregon tort, pink lemonade, shades of fall, hawkins echinata, etc) with a good mix of gorgeous maris to fill out the space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAM Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Ok Ty Let's start the color part now: Color on website vs in our tank vs MH/LED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Ty what is the second group of pictures in post #4? That thing is sexy! Only the first set of pictures has captions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Mariculture Stylophora I thought it was a Pink Cat's Paw. The skeleton was beige and pink when I bought it. I placed it mid tank in a frag rack. After about two weeks the skeleton started to turn pink and the polyps started to turn blue/purple. After a month it was completely blue/purple. I kept the coral mid tank and moved it onto a rock in the center of the aquarium. Rainbow Stylophora Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 I bought this mariculture from a local shop. It was pink when I put it into the tank and it really didn't do much for the first couple of months. I moved it around a few times as you can see from the pictures. I started at mid tank and found it was the most happy in the top 20% of the tank under intense lighting. Acropora sp. Unidentified Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 Ty what is the second group of pictures in post #4? That thing is sexy! Only the first set of pictures has captions. You tell me sir. I haven't gotten around to identifying it yet. [emoji39] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 I bought this mariculture from a local shop. It was pink when I put it into the tank and it really didn't do much for the first couple of months. I moved it around a few times as you can see from the pictures. I started at mid tank and found it was the most happy in the top 20% of the tank under intense lighting. Acropora sp. Unidentified post-2552-0-05062500-1387582276.jpg post-2552-0-75408300-1391176262.jpg post-2552-0-27210900-1393203931.jpg post-2552-0-62097400-1394454690.jpg post-2552-0-30688300-1397830893.jpg Now that one does look like the miyagi tort if that's the one you were referring to in my build thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 I posted a picture to your question in the build. The mariculture has brown polyps and the other one has green polyps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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